Red Bell Pepper Picante with Rice, Beans & Turkey
Submitted by tails
Stuffed red and yellow bell peppers filled with ground turkey, rice, navy beans, and a spiced picante tomato sauce. A low-fat dinner with real depth - Madeira deglazes the wok, fennel and rosemary do the heavy lifting.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
15 minCOOK
60 minREADY
75 minStuffed bell peppers get a serious upgrade here. The turkey filling is built in a wok - sauteed mushrooms and onion, ground turkey crumbled and browned, then a splash of Madeira to deglaze before the tomatoes, beans, rice, and a complex hit of fennel, sage, rosemary, and mint go in.
Red and yellow peppers get steamed until just crisp-tender (the directions say to check at 5 minutes - don’t skip that step, soft peppers fall apart in the oven), then stuffed and baked on a bed of shredded napa cabbage that soaks up every bit of the picante sauce.
This is a 75-minute project, not a weeknight shortcut - but the payoff is a full dinner with serious flavor at under 300 calories per serving.
Kitchen Tips
- Steam the peppers only until crisp-tender. They continue cooking in the oven; overdone peppers at the steaming stage means collapsed, soggy ones by the time they come out.
- The onion water left from blanching the Vidalia is the secret weapon - use it to thin the sauce if it reduces too fast and to moisten the filling.
- Optional orange zest in the filling sounds unusual but it cuts through the richness nicely - worth trying at least once.
Ingredients
Directions
Cut an ‘x’ into both ends of the onion.
Place in a wok. Cover with water (about 2 cups) and bring to a boil; boil 3 to 4 minutes with one end down, then flip, and boil 2 to 3 minutes on the other.
Remove the onion to a collander and cool under cold water.
Reserve the onion water in a bowl with a spout.
Put the dried chili peppers in that hot water and set aside.
Chop the onion.
Dry wok with paper toweling; heat oil in wok; sauté mushrooms, bell pepper, and onion over medium to medium- high until mushrooms are soft and fragrant.
Add the ground turkey to the wok’s center, crumble and stir fry until no longer pink.
Increase heat; add madeira and deglaze.
Add tomatoes, chili sauce or ketchup, and broth.
Bring to a gentle boil.
Add garlic. Reduce heat and add seasonings.
Add about 12 fennel seeds, and pinches of sage, rosemary and mint leaves.
Add hot pepper sauce, to taste.
Then stir in parsley and cilantro; the rice and beans.
Add optional orange zest. Moisten with some of the reserved onion water, as desired.
Steam the peppers until crisp tender (7 to 10 minutes depending on microwave or steamer).
Test after 5 minutes; do not let them get too soft.
Preheat oven to 375℉ (190℃).
Layer a small casserole with shredded cabbage (Chinese, napa or savoy).
Stuff each pepper and stand upright in the casserole.
Distribute the leftover stuffing around the peppers.
Bake covered for 15 minutes.
Bake uncovered for 10 mins.
SAUCE: Put the two sauce ingredients in the wok.
Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium, medium-low and simmer (15 minutes).
If the sauce reduces too much, thin with remaining onion water.
Optional: put the serrano chilies in the sauce.
Serve: plate half a pepper, 1 crown broccoli and some sauce.
Have extra shredded cabbage on hand.
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